Stay
by DarkElements10
Summary: Barry and Cadence both agree; late night conversations while watching over Central City was a great way to waste time. You don't have to read Flash Fire or Crossfire to understand this. Please read and review.


**Stay**

 **By: Riley**

 **Summary** \- Barry and Cadence both agree; late night conversations while watching over Central City was a great way to waste time.

* * *

Cadence gently closed the door to her Brady's room, not moving until she heard the door thud of wood on wood. Bringing a hand up, she massaged the back of her neck, using her powers to heat her skin as she did so. Then she strolled back into the living room of the apartment, glancing at the basket of clothes that sat on the floor, wondering if she truly did want to take the time to do the load she managed to put off for the past two weeks.

With a sigh, Cadence picked up the basket and tucked it under her arm then headed into her bedroom to find more clothes to put into the basket. Once things were all picked up she dug through to find dark clothes when there was a light gust of wind that blew from the open window. Accompanying the gust of wind was a light knocking sound.

She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Hey, Barry," she greeted.

"Hey, Cade," Barry replied.

"What's up?" She placed the now full basket of clothes on the ground and kicked it by the side of her bed. Then turned to face him, loosely crossing her arms. Barry sat on her windowsill as if he belonged there, one foot inside her room, the other on the fire escape.

"You mean other than actually finding out that I can get bored of running?" Barry stretched his legs out along the length of the window sill. He mimicked her stance, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyebrows rested in a neutral expression of contemplation. "It was fun at first, being able to get to Europe within a few minutes of running but now that I've been nearly everywhere, there's not so much to look at."

"I think you're the only person that would actually complain about that, Tholly," Cadence pointed out with a teasing smile. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure, whatever you have."

Cadence nodded and left her room, going to the kitchen. She went into the small liquor cabinet that sat on the counter and took out a bottle of whiskey from inside. Then she grabbed two glasses from another cabinet and ice from the freezer before walking back to her bedroom. When he saw her coming, Barry turned so that his body faced out of the window, towards the city.

Ducking her head, Cadence sat down next to him on the window sill, gently resting her bare feet against the metal of the fire escape. "Do you like whisky?" she asked, carefully balancing everything to prepare the drinks.

"I like it fine," Barry replied. "It's not my favorite drink but I won't turn it away. What kind is it?"

"Canadian. Harrison gave it to me." Cadence finished pouring the drinks and handed one to Barry. He held it in his hand and gently tapped the glass against hers before tilting his head back to down it. Cadence took a few sip of hers, twisting her body back towards the room so that she could hear if Brady woke up.

"It must be weird," Barry commented. "To know the truth about Dr. Wells."

It took a moment for Cadence to figure out how to answer the question. She ran a hand through her hair then said, "It was weird at first…I was more confused than anything else when I found out he was my dad. My biological one. I mean, I've lived life thinking the man I called my dad was who he was. Only come to figure out later that our 'family friend' is actually my dad." She shook her head. "If anything it make a lot of sense. As much as my parents loved me while I was growing up…"

"Is that a nice way to say you were spoiled?" Barry teased.

Cadence laughed. "Yeah, pretty much."

Barry started to laugh saying, "I knew it. There's just something in the way you act sometimes." He laughed harder as Cadence made a sound of offense and gently hit him on the arm.

"Aren't you an only child too? You had to have been spoiled, too!" She continued to gently hit him before poking him in the chest, ribs, and stomach, making him laugh harder and continue to squirm away from her.

"Okay, okay!" He batted her hands away. "I was a little bit spoiled. As dad's medical practice took off my mom became a stay-at-home mom and we spent a lot of time together. It wasn't that hard to talk her into something if my dad said 'no'." He slowly stopped laughing, a wistful smile on his face. "She was always the first person I would go to."

"You must miss her a lot."

"I do. But it gets easier day by day. I got into the CCPD, into forensics to clear her name. Now that we're getting closer to doing that it gets easier." He nodded then lowered his head. He was silent for a few seconds then sniffed, rubbing his nose.

Cadence sat quietly next to him, letting him take his time. Finally, after about three minutes he lifted his head, eyebrows coming together for a second. "I'm sorry, I interrupted you. What were you saying?"

She thought for a second, trying to backtrack. Then the corner of her mouth turned up. "When I was growing up I had the feeling that something was off, though I never knew what it was. And my mom and dad would get kind of tense when Harrison was around. As if they didn't want me to say some things or didn't want _him_ to say some things…it was just weird." She shrugged. "I'm getting used to things with Harrison now. It's like you said. As the days go by it gets easier. And he's really patient with Brady and I know how difficult that can be sometimes."

"Well you're handling it very well," Barry said. "I don't know how I'd feel if I ever found out that my dad wasn't my dad. Or if I had some other family member I didn't know about." Finishing his drink he carefully placed the glass on the fire escape and crossed his legs at the ankle. "Not to mention everything that's been going on out there."

He nodded towards Central City and Cadence followed his gaze. One thing she loved about her apartment was the view she had of the city. The apartment was on a high floor that her fire escape had an amazing view of most of the city. From where they sat they could see STAR Labs and the glowing light of the office buildings. As the seconds passed some would turn off signaling those that were heading home for the night. Maybe to their husband, wife, whatever family that were waiting for them to return.

Or maybe go home to an empty apartment.

That's what Cadence's reality was for a long time. An eight year old son was good company for the most part, but having to keep so much of her life private was harder when there was no one to come home too. That is until meeting Barry.

It was then Cadence realized how close the two were sitting, the side of his hand brushing over hers. Did he notice it? She looked at the side of his face, at the peaceful expression that swept over Central City. He probably didn't have a lot of time to spend to himself while working hard at the CCPD, running off to STAR Labs and when his day was done he went back to Detective West and Iris. One of the two who was in on everything he did as The Flash and the other that didn't.

He didn't get a chance to relax with hushed conversations and secrets going on at the same time. She wondered if he ever got lonely.

Finally, Barry turned her way and caught her gaze. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I was just wondering what you were thinking."

"W-what I was thinking? I wasn't thinking anything in particular."

Cadence tucked her loose hair behind her ear as the wind gently blew a warm breeze. "I was thinking about how lonely I used to be here in Central City. When I couldn't tell anyone that I could set fire to anything I wanted to, could teleport places within seconds. When I couldn't really be myself." She nodded back towards the apartment. "I mean, Brady an eight year old great for company but sometimes I like adult conversation, you know."

Barry let out a long breath through his nose. "Yeah, I was pretty lonely sometimes when I first got my powers. I mean, Dr. Wells, Caitlin, Cisco, and Joe were always there to help me out. But they never really understood what I was going through." He smiled warmly at her. "Until now."

"Until now," Cadence agreed. She smiled back.

Barry shifted, almost as if he didn't notice he was doing it, and moved his hand over hers. His fingers curled around her knuckles and held on in a firm yet gentle grasp. Cadence turned her hand over and grasped onto his hand, pulling his palm against hers. They continued to sit there, watching over Central City with the clear sky above and the bustling streets below.

She wasn't sure how long they were there. Her hand felt cold as he removed it and stood up. She watched as Barry stretched his arms over his head, the bottom of his sweater rising to show his stomach. Cadence took a quick peek then looked away.

"What? What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing."

Barry smiled, shrugged, and turned to leave.

"Hey Barry?" Cadence called.

Barry turned back to her, seconds away from blasting off into the night.

"Do you mind staying a while longer?"

He smiled and sat down once more, this time right next to her, pressing his arm into hers. "Sure."

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 **a/n:** So let me know what you think. I've done a few Flash one-shots that were deleted scenes or were about Cadence and Harrison or Cadence and Caitlin but none about BarryCade. I have some more ideas up my sleeve.

Cheers,

-Riles


End file.
